Letter from a Master Wizard:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Namaste.

This book is not a typical book, yet it is a typical book of its kind. It addresses all humans, yet only a select few may fully understand its form, content, and structure. Please be advised now that if you are the type of human who "thinks" s/he knows something and have committed yourself to what and that you think, you may not want to read any further.

On the other hand, if you are willing to be open and if you know that what you think and that you can think is of little consequence to your life, the life of others and the history of the human race in general — or if you can exercise your capacity to bracket, to put aside, that you think and that you think you know something and if you are willing to let yourself learn something, then please continue and —

Welcome to our realm: The realm of the Wizard's Circle. It is a privilege to welcome you as it is your privilege, as well, to be here. From whatever direction you have journeyed to arrive here, know that you have directed your path here — to this Circle. And realize, please, that you are essentially here to learn nothing that you do not already know and have always known. We have no secrets. We own nothing individually and no part is our own individually.

Beside your direction, your intent, be it known to you or not, is to be a wizard and to eventually assume the wizard's mantle. This mantle, of course, you cannot perceive. This mantle is your experience of being a wizard. A wizard is master of environment. S/he is a master in the sense of a Zen Master, a T'ai Chi Master, or a Sufi Master.

A master knows essences — that, s/he does not have knowledge of essences, but knows directly, as a knower, essences. S/he is essence. What makes a wizard different from a Zen, T'ai Chi, or Sufi Master is that a wizard deals directly with the cognitive structures that provide perceptual frames governing one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The Zen Master deals with one's intellectual functions with mind boggling koans or just sitting absolutely still, letting one become present to one's own presence eliciting breathing. The T'ai Chi Master deals with the emerging realization that one is T'ai Chi, the harmonious balance of Yin and Yang, the first expression of the Tao. The Sufi Master deals with the heart, letting one realize s/he is the experience of divinity in one's humanity as well as the experience of humanity in one's divinity. In sum, a person experiences unity without duality.

All masters teach the same content. Each master uses a particular form and structure that bespeaks his or her presence in Being.

In order to assume the mantle of a wizard, one must be willing to give up all that one is — that is, all that one thinks one is, even the thought of being a wizard. The basic fact is that whatever we think is the case, usually is not the case. Also, whatever we think is not the case, usually is not as well. All masters do the same — let one see who s/he is. The Zen Master lets one assume an egoless ego; the wizard, a perceptionless perception; the Sufi Master, a selfless self. By being less every reality, one knows all reality. Thus, must one be willing to give up what one thinks s/he is — even the thought that, perhaps, s/he has no thought or thinks nothing.

In this regard, your task essentially is to experience the we, that we are one. You will accomplish this task, completely integrating the one reality that we are, to the extent you let yourself be this one experience of responsible integrity, showing, as Buddhists would phrase it, Everything-is-Right-Here-Now. You let yourself be this experience to the extent that you give up your own thought of yourself, let it go and be who you are. Thus, you will come to experience the self-identity of absolute contradiction, the expressed reality of Everything-is-Right-Here-Now.

This handbook treats many topics related to the mind. Each section treats a specific topic. The structure of this handbook you can easily discern, at least exoterically. The exotertic structure derives from the division of the notes in the definition of philosophical psychology. The esoteric structure derives from the notes in the integrity of the basic, essential and fundamental unity underlying reality and non-reality. This unity we recognize and identify with as the implicit and inherent unity of all that is and is not in all its emergent manifestations, ideal, real, or not.

Each part of this handbook is a whole in and of itself, inviting awareness of your own particular experience of it. Each part together synergistically forms a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. This greater whole is one's sense that the reader creates as his or her response to what s/he is reading, experiencing, giving meaning to.

Wizards are tricky — as they play with others from behind the illusion of the reality of one's mind. We could say that wizards, in this sense, do the same as the Zen teacher who lets the initiate create blocks along the path so that s/he can come to see that there is no block in the first place. The only block that exists is the block the initiate has allowed into his or her own perception or understanding in the first place. If you are now confused, wonderful! Perhaps you could smile and continue reading.

Some sections, perhaps, you will like more than others. Know that each section addresses a particular — to remain unidentified — headset or perceptual point of view. Also, you will find foreign grammatical structures. According to the laws of grammar, syntax, style, and composition this may be so. You will recognize, for example, that this handbook is written in the first person, plural "we." Yet, "we" is used in conjunction with single pronoun references such as "ourself." This construction is used to underlie our single human reality rather than our separate and distinct individual realities. (In this regard, does the author keep his comments to a bare minimum.) According to the laws of wizards, it does not matter. What is written or even how it is written, matters not. What we are writing about cannot be written about. Therefore, you do experience what Peter Mattheissen in his The Snow Leopard (highly recommended as a companion text to this handbook) describes as "that cryptic manner of expression which the inexpressible requires." (p. 57). It is with the reader's experience of the written word that the wizard is playing. As you sense/experience through your own perceptual filters, identify them, take responsibility for that you maintain them, do you experience yourself as the master, the creator, of that experience and, thus, your reality and the reality of others in your perceptual field that you generate.

As we set out, let us keep the dictum of The Wizard with us:

"Laugh and be merry!
Quiet and be still."

So, having said this, welcome once again to the Circle. Oh yes, one side note. You will find that this work addresses healers among us. Perhaps it goes without saying that we are all healers, each and everyone of us. Our task, as wizards, is to let our client be his or her own healer as well. Thus, we let ourself and client

Be the eye of the needle
through which we mend
with the thread of our intention
the fabric of our life.



Om Shanti
San Francisco, 1987